At the beginning of August, the Amex Membership Rewards program in the United States introduced a new transfer bonus. I wanted to post a reminder of this offer, as it’s due to expire today, and I think it’s one that may interest many, especially in light of recent developments.
In this post:
20% transfer bonus from Amex to Hawaiian
Through Saturday, August 31, 2024, the US Amex Membership Rewards program is offering a 20% bonus when you transfer points to Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles.
Points ordinarily transfer at a 1:1 ratio, so during this promotion they transfer at a 1:1.2 ratio. Since the bonus is hardcoded into the transfer ratio, you can take advantage of this promotion multiple times. Transfers between the programs are generally instant.
- 4x points at restaurants, on up to $50,000 in purchases annually
- 4x points at U.S. supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases annually
- 3x points on flights booked directly with airlines or through amextravel.com
- $325
- Access to Amex Offers
- Redeem Amex Points Towards Airfare
- $375
- Earn 5x points on flights purchased directly from airlines or through Amex Travel (up to $500k/year)
- $200 Annual Uber Credit
- Amex Centurion Lounge Access
- $695
- Earn 1.5x on purchases of $5,000 or more in a single transaction on up to $2MM per calendar year
- Redeem Points For Over 1.5 Cents Each Towards Airfare
- Amex Centurion Lounge Access
- $695
- 2x points on purchases up to $50k then 1x
- Access to Amex Offers
- No annual fee
When you transfer Amex points to the frequent flyer program of a US airline, there’s a fee of 0.06 cents per point, up to a maximum fee of $99. This is for Amex to offset the federal excise tax paid on such conversions.
Should you earn miles with Hawaiian Airlines?
Let me cut to the case — overall I don’t consider HawaiianMiles to be a very lucrative program, at least in its current form.
Yes, you can redeem miles for travel on Hawaiian Airlines. While award pricing is fine, availability isn’t necessarily great, and often premium fares to and from Hawaii in cash aren’t that bad. Pricing is broken up into many different zones, and you can find the award pricing here.
HawaiianMiles also offers redemptions on select partner airlines, including Japan Airlines, JetBlue, Korean Air, and Virgin Australia, and you can find the award pricing here. In all situations, award pricing just isn’t much to get excited about, even with a 20% bonus.
So that brings me to the one unique twist with this promotion. Alaska is in the process of trying to buy Hawaiian. It looks like the merger is going to be approved, in which case Hawaiian is expected to adapt the Alaska Mileage Plan program, and of course there are lots of great uses of Mileage Plan miles. So not only would this be a way to convert Amex points into Alaska miles, but you could even get a 20% bonus.
Now, of course there are still some risks, and we don’t know with what timeline it’ll be possible to convert Hawaiian’s mileage currency into Alaska Mileage Plan miles. But still, many may find this to be worth a speculative transfer, and I’ve written a separate post with my thoughts on that.
Bottom line
Through August 31, 2024, you can receive a 20% bonus when you transfer Amex points to HawaiianMiles. We haven’t seen this promotion in quite some time, and it’s not something I’d generally consider to be a good value. The only interesting angle here is that Alaska intends to acquire Hawaiian, so it’s highly likely that this is an opportunity to acquire Alaska Mileage Plan miles in a way that represents a good value.
Do you plan on transferring Amex points to Hawaiian with a 20% bonus?
As I was thinking the big risk is the merger.
HA! another timely Post I fell off the wagon today, applied, and got approved for Barclays Hawaiian SUB 70,000 miles for $99.00 AF. $0.00141/mile
I thnk the meger is benifical and will go through if I Churn the BofAm AS Card another time or two, I can use 250,000 miles for StarLux ;-)
Ben, your story is pretty much on target, except for one situation: if Hawaiian Airlines is your primary airline, i.e., you live in Hawaii.
My husband and I can get an economy nonstop ticket from HNL to JFK (or reverse), a nonstop 10+ hours flight, for 26,250 mi each. Then we pay for the upgrade to economy plus and choose seats 11A & 11B or 11G & 11H. These seats are directly behind business class...
Ben, your story is pretty much on target, except for one situation: if Hawaiian Airlines is your primary airline, i.e., you live in Hawaii.
My husband and I can get an economy nonstop ticket from HNL to JFK (or reverse), a nonstop 10+ hours flight, for 26,250 mi each. Then we pay for the upgrade to economy plus and choose seats 11A & 11B or 11G & 11H. These seats are directly behind business class and are totally isolated from the rest of the plane - no one is sitting in front of you or behind you. You can recline to your heart's content, enjoy the silence of this small cabin, and even stow stuff behind your seat. It's our little secret... well, at least until now.
Absolutely! It’s possible to fly between the west coast and Hawaii in first class for as low as 40k miles in a lie flat or even on the new Dreamliner on select days. This bonus brings the cost down to 33k Amex points, at a value of almost 3 cents per point.
As a New Yorker I thank you for this tidbit.
Unless the merger parties make some significant last-minute deal changes, the Justice Department is about to block Hawaiian’s merger with Alaska, so there’s another Hawaiian bankruptcy on the horizon and more instability for Hawaiian. Route cuts could limit utility of miles.
I believe DOJ Had no objections, but waiting for USDOT for final approval